Aerostar Bacau / Romania becomes a global provider of the Patriot missile system

By Edwig Ban
Raytheon has issued an order for parts and subassemblies for the Patriot Air Defense System to Aerostar Bacau / Romania, the company said in a statement. Romania acquired the Patriot missile system for about $ 3.9 million following a government deal with the US government. Romania will receive seven batteries in the 3+ configuration, packed with over 200 interceptors.
Raytheon’s order to Aerostar Bacau allows the Romanian company to become one of Raytheon’s global suppliers and to export the products of any of the 15 member nations of the Patriot Partnership.
“Aerostar is part of Raytheon’s global supply network, with the ability to export to the other 15 Patriot Partnership nations that together hold more than 220 Patriot units,” Raytheon reports in a HotNews.ro release.
“This order formalizes the beginning of Raytheon’s long-term collaboration with the Romanian industry,” said Mike Ellison, Country Manager for Romania. “We are preparing to do much more with the Romanian defense industry, because such a solid partnership is a key element in the relationship between Raytheon and the Romanians.”
“Aerostar is ready to help build the Patriot systems for Romania,” said Grigore Filip, president and general manager of Aerostar. “Our partnership represents a huge opportunity that will materialize as soon as the first Romanian Patriot units will be produced”.
The order includes the production of machined parts and mechanical assemblies designed to mount and fix electronic components in the radar enclosure. These components will form subassemblies, which in turn will be integrated into the construction of the Patriot fleet, the company conveys.
Romania started at the end of 2017 to acquire the Patriot missile-defense missile defense system. The first of the seven Patriot systems that would go to Romania in 2019 and become operational in 2020. The cost of the entire contract for the seven Patriot systems (seven firing units) is about $ 3.9 billion (excluding VAT).
The systems acquired by Romania are in the 3+ configuration, the most modern version existing on the market today, and include 58 GEM-T PAC-2 missiles and 168 PAC-3 MSE missiles.
For comparison, Poland signed a $ 4.75 billion contract in March for two Patriot batteries (four firing units) and 208 PAC-3 missiles.